Poolside swing having a seat with an ejection slide mechanism

ABSTRACT

A swing-slide has an elongated seat sized and shaped to hold a rider in a seated position with his legs extended. The seat is suspended from an overhead support by front and rear suspension members to normally freely swing back and forth in a substantially horizontal position when the front suspension member is shortened. Lengthening means for the front suspension member is automatically actuated by the height of swing or manually by the rider whereby the front end of the seat is lowered converting the latter to an inclined slide for ejection of the rider into an adjacent body of water.

Esposito, Jr.

POOLSIDE SWING HAVING A SEAT WITH AN EJECTION SLIDE MECHANISM lnventor:Vincent J. Esposito, Jr., 31 Jackson Ave., Wayne, NJ. 07470 Assignee:Erwin M. Barnett, Miami Beach,

Fla. a part interest Filed: Aug. 31, 1972 Appl. No.: 285,516

Related U.S. Application Data 1970, abandoned.

[52] U.S. C1 272/85, 272/65, 272/56.5 [51] Int. Cl A63g 9/00 [58] Fieldof Search 272/565, 65, 85; 294/73 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 856,211 6/1907 Baus 294/73 1,731,532 10/1929 Hoppes 272/85 Dec.11, 1973 2,141,702 12/1938 Walsh 294/73 531,472 12/1894 Shorey et al272/85 3,161,893 12/1964 Siler 272/85 1,648,196 11/1927 Rohmer 272/565 RPrimary Examiner-Anton O. Oech sle Assistant ExaminerTheatrice BrownAttorney-Erwin M. Barnett [57] ABSTRACT A swing-slide has an elongatedseat sized and shaped to hold a rider in a seated position with his legsextended. The seat is suspended from an overhead support by front andrear suspension members to normally freely swing back and forth in asubstantially horizontal position when the front suspension member isshortened. Lengthening means for the front suspension member isautomatically actuated by the height of swing or manually by the riderwhereby the front end of the seat is lowered converting the latter to aninclined slide for ejection of the rider into an adjacent body of water.

11 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures i mum Zoe POOLSIDE SWING HAVING A SEAT WITHAN EJECTION SLIDE MECHANISM This is a continuation in part ofapplication Ser. No. 52, 176, filed July 6, 1970, since abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention: The inventionrelates generally to amusement devices and more particularly to apoolside combination swing and slide which ejects the rider into thewater.

2. Description of the Prior Art: Poolside devices which deliver a riderinto the water are presently in the form of slides, usually permanentlyfixed in place and built of massive brick and concrete. To provide adegree of fun, the slide may be seven or eight feet high presenting ahazard to small children of falling to a hard surface beneath. To reducefriction burns to the skin, running water on the sliding surface isoften required. This invention provides a novel approach to poolsidedevices for projecting a swimmer into the water while affording safetyand interest to both young and old and eliminating the disadvantages ofthe conventional slide.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the objects of the invention is toprovide a poolside, dock or float mounted amusement device primarily forchildren, but which will also accommodate adults, incorporating featuresof a swing, the thrill of a slide into the water, and the surprise ofnot knowing exactly on which swing the slide will occur. The swingslideis rugged in construction, virtually tilt-proof in operation, yetlightweight for carrying by two persons from place to place, hasrelatively few and simple parts which may be stored and shipped inknock-down condition and readily assembled in do-it-yourself fashion atthe site of use. Other safety features include the closeness to theground of the chute-like seat during its swinging motion, he occurrenceof the ejection of the rider, that is, the dropping of the forward endof the seat to convert it to a slide, only on the forward swing whileapproaching its apogee and is over the water, and, after having ejectedits rider, the coming to rest of the seat on the subsequent down swing.

The invention broadly contemplates a chute-like seat, namely, a channelshaped elongated body to serve as a conbination seat and slide sized toaccommodate a rider in a seated position with his legs extended andcapable of serving as a slide when the front end is low ered todownwardly and forwardly incline the seat so that the rider will slideoff into a body of water beneath. To this end the seat is suspended forback and forth swinging movement in a substantially horizontal positionby front and rear suspension members. Means is provided for lengtheningthe front suspension member to lower the front end of the seat to theinclined position as the seat completes one of its forward swings. Thislengthening means may be actuated either manually by the rider orautomatically when the back and forth swinging reaches a predeterminedheight.

Various front suspension member shortening and lengthening means aresuggested, as for example, a compressed air actuated cylinder may have areciprocatable piston rod connected to the front suspension member andarranged to lengthen the member on a downward stroke and to shorten themember on retraction. Compressed air is selectively supplied to thedesired end of the cylinder by a conventional 4-way solenoid controlledvalve. The solenoid may in turn be actuated by a switch within reach ofthe rider or by a microswitch positioned for actuation by one of thesuspension members as it approaches a predetermined height.

A preferred form of the invention herein shown and described in detailis a swing-slide having a framework resting on a pool deck, on a dock,or on a float which includes overhead support means from which front andrear suspension members for the chute-like seat depend. The suspensionmembers are connected to the overhead support means to permit relativelyfree forward and backward swinging thereof which in turn imparts aforward and backward gliding motion to the seat with a minimum gain inheight at each apogee. The rear suspension member is a pair of rigidsuspender elements providing tracks along which a crossbar of ashortening means for the front suspension member rides. The latter islikewise a pair of suspender elements which are sectionalized to beshortened to a length for maintaining the seat in a horizontal positionfor swinging and then lengthened to drop the fornt of the seat to aninclined position. The shortening means for the front suspension membercomprises a crossbar extending horizontally across the rear side of therear suspender elements, traces connecting opposite ends of the crossbarto a midportion of the front suspender ele ments, namely, to thejuncture of the sections thereof, and latching means for releasablyretaining the crossbar in a raised position wherein the front suspenderelements have their midportions pulled rearwardly by the traces toeffect shortening thereof. The latching means may comprise a short barsuspended from the overhead support means for swing motion along withthe rear suspension member and terminating in a hook which isconstructed and arranged to engage the crossbar and retain the latter ina raised, front suspension member shortening position during normal backand forth gliding of the seat, and to release, that is, permit thecrossbar to be pulled out of engagement therewith, when the rearwardswing of the rear suspension member reaches a predetermined height. Thecrossbar, having been released by the latching means, slides downwardlyalong the rear suspender elements as the forward swing thereofprogresses and reaches its lowest position as the forward swingapproaches its apogee resulting in the lengthening of the frontsuspension member whereby the forward end of the chute-like seat islowered with respect to the rear end, inclining the seat to form a slidefor ejecting the rider into the water. A manual release for the crossbarmay also be provided as an overhead pull rope within easy grasp of therider and attached by a lever arm to the short bar so that a downwardpull on the rope pivots the bar rearwardly forcing the hook to disengagethe crossbar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of aswing-slide constructed to embody the invention shown positionedadjacent the coping of a pool for proper ejection of a rider therein,the traces of the shortening means being shown in raised position todispose the chute-like seat horizontally for mounting by a rider and forswinging motion during the first phase of operation.

FIG; 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the swingslide shown in FIG.1, the supporting frame being omitted, the seat and suspension membersbeing near the apogee of a rearward swing just prior to the release ofthe shortening means preparatory to the second, that is, the frontsuspension member lengthening phase of operation.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to FIG. 2 but showingthe swing-slide approaching the apogee of the forward swing afterrelease of the shortening means whereby the seat is inclined to a slideposition for ejection of the rider into the pool, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail side elevational view of the latching meansreleasably engaging the crossbar of the shortening means with the partssubstantially in the position shown in FIG. 1, but also showing thelatching means equipped with an accessory for manual release of thecrossbar.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary perspective views of the swing-slidesimilar to FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively, but showing a modified form ofrelease mechanism for the shortening means, and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged detail side elevational view of the latching meansof the modified form of release mechanism shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring in detail to FIG. 1 ofthe drawings, 10 generally denotes a swing-slide having front and rearoverhead supports 11 and 12 from which front and rear suspension membersdepend, as pairs of suspender elements 21 and 22, respectively,swingably carrying at the lower ends thereof chute-like seat 20 andhaving a front suspension member length control device 30.

Any suitable framework may be provided for overhead positioning ofsupports 11 and 12, as for example, the supports may be suspended from aceiling enclosing the pool area or may be part ofa permanentinstallation attached to the pool deck. As here shown, the framework isrelatively lightweight for portability, having a wooden platform or baseformed of a pair of spaced side planks l3 interconnected at theirmidportions by a cross plank 14, the latter being suitably joined atopposite ends to planks 13 by fasteners 130 which may be nails, woodscrews, bolts and nuts, or the like. The upstanding framework includingsupports 11 and 12 may be of tubular metal stock provided in sectionswhich telescope into each other, front and rear supports 11 and 12 beingformed as parts of inverted U-shaped tubular structures 15 and 16upstanding from front and rear ends of side planks 13, respectively, andbeing retained in substantially upright position as a rigid structure bycross bracing -17 extending as opposite sides of the framework leavingthe front and rear open for the swinging of seat 20 therethrough.

Chute-like seat 20 may be made of a suitable material, such as, sheetmetal, molded plastic or fiberglass, formed in a channel shape, finishedwith a smooth friction reduced interior surface, and having a bottomwall 200 of sufficient width to comfortably seat an adult and of alength to amply accommodate his legs in an outstretched position whenthe rider is seated adjacent the rear end of the seat. Opposite verticalside walls 20b of seat 20 may be formed with outwardly extending edgeflanges 20c.

Seat 20 may be carried on and be fastened to a pair of transverse beams23 and 24 in any well understood manner, such as, by rivets, bolts,welding, or the like (not shown). Front beam 23 is located rearwardly ofthe front end of seat 20 providing a front overhanging portion whilerear beam 24 is located at the rear end of seat 20. Both beams 23 and 24are seen to extend beyond each of the seat opposite vertical side walls201; for overall lengths equivalent to the relatively wide spacing ofeach of the suspender elements 21 and 22 along their respective overheadsupports 11 and 12 so that elements 21 and 22, attached to the oppositeends of beams 23 and 24, respectively, will hang straight down forswinging in vertical planes, the spacing rendering stability to seat 20and providing ample clearance for the arms and head of a rider which maybe inadvertently extended laterally over vertical side walls 20b.

Front suspender elements 21 may be in any suitable form, such as, rope,cable, chain, or bar or tubular stock, capable of being sectionalized intwo for midportion bending, that is, the assuming of an angularconfiguration which when increased or decreased, shortens or lengthens,respectively, the effective straight line length of elements 21. Rearsuspender elements 22 are straight and rigid in character, preferably ofbar or tubular stock, herein shown as the latter, and also square incross-section to provide a flat rear track surface 22a along whichcrossbar 31 of length control device 30 rides.

Conventional means may be provided for swingably attaching opposite endsof front and rear suspender elements 21 and 22 to their respective frontand rear overhead supports 11 and 12 and front and rear transverse beams23 and 24. Such attaching means are herein illustrated as eye bolts 25which extend through overhead supports 11 and 12 and transverse beams 23and 24 and engage, through their respective eyes, companion elementsterminating the opposite ends of front and rear suspender elements 21and 22 in the well understood manner.

Front suspension member length control device 30 comprises crossbar 31,a pair of traces 32 and a latching bar 33 terminating in an open hook 34which engages crossbar 31 for releasable retention in a raised, frontsuspension member shortening position. Crossbar 31 extends across therear surfaces 22a of rear suspender elements 22 and has its oppositeends, which project beyond each element 22, attached to one end oftraces 32. The opposite end of each of the traces 32 connects to amidportion 21a of one of the front suspender elements 21. Traces 32 andsuspender elements 21 are herein shown to comprise link chain.

Latching bar 33, which may be formed of bar or tubular stock similar tothat of rear suspender elements 22, is suspended for swinging movementin a like manner from rear overhead support 12 by an eye bolt 25 locatedpreferably midway between elements 22. As seen in FIG. 4, open hook 34may be mounted to terminate bar 33 by an adjustable tensioning deviceshown as a headed bolt 35 extending through coiled compression spring36, openings in shank 34b of hook 34 and bar 33 and terminating in nut35a. Hook 34 is shaped to cradle an engaging portion of crossbar 31inwardly of a protruding lip 34a.

Crossbar 31 and rear surfaces 22a of suspender elements 22 may beprovided with any Suitable antifriction device, as for example, a pairof rollers (not shown) carried by crossbar 31 to register with and rideon rear surfaces 22a, or'the latter may be provided withself-lubricating material, such as, nylon or teflon which may be appliedas a tape in the well understood manner. Also, suspender elements 22 maybe of circular cross-section with coacting rollers carried by crossbar31 having arcuate grooves shaped to conform to the curved surfacethereof.

Manual release means for crossbar 31 is also shown in FIG. 4 asaccessory 40 which includes a lever arm 41 suitably bolted to latchingbar 33 to extend forwardly above seat 20 and a pull rope 42 having ahandle 42a, rope 42 being suspended from the forward end of lever arm 41with handle 4211 within easy grasp of a rider in seat 20.

The practical utility and operation of swing-slide will now be apparent.After assembly as hereinbefore described and shown in the drawings,swing-slide 10 may be positioned with the front ends of side planks 13in abutment with coping C ofa pool P, as shown in FIG. 1, the bottomends of tubular structures 15 and 16 having been secured to side planks13 in any well understood manner, as by flanged collars (not shown) orby directly fastening the bottom ends to shallow wells or seats formedin planks 13 by nails or screws (not shown) driven obliquely throughtubular structures 15 and 16 into the wood. With seat 20 disposed in thehorizontal position shown in FIG. 1 wherein front suspension memberlength control device 30 has its crossbar 31 retained in raised positionby engagement in hook 34 so that traces 32 pull front suspender elementmidportions 21a rearwardly, shortening the effectivelength of frontsuspender elements 21 to substantially that of the fixed length rearsuspender elements 22, swing-slide 10 is ready for the seating of arider with his body adjacent the rear of seat 20 and with his legsextending forwardly and within the bounds of the seat.

Swing-slide 10 may now be swung back and forth either by another personstanding behind and manually giving forward impetus to seat 20 or rearsuspender elements 22, or the rider may propel himself by pulling onfront suspender elements 21 at the end of each backward swing, bothmethods being well known and used on conventional swings. It will beclear from FIGS. 1 and 2 that seat 20 during the first phase ofoperation, namely, while swinging back and forth, maintains a relativelyhorizontal disposition, changing its elevation only to a small degree.For safety, front and rear suspension members may be designed toposition seat 20 on the order of l8 inches above the ground. At thisheight, the front end of seat 20 with its overhand is relatively closeto the water level during ejection. However, should a more daring ridebe desired, seat 20 may be located at a higher elevation to provide agreater height of plunge into the water.

Seat 20 with its seated rider will swing back and forth in the firstphase of operation until the second phase, namely, the conversion ofseat 20 to a slide, is initiated by the release of crossbar 31. This maybe accomplished manually, when swing-slide 10 is equipped with accessory40 shown in FIG. 4, by the rider pulling downwardly on handle 420, orautomatically when the backward swing reaches a predetermined height. Inthe latter case, release of crossbar 31 from hook 34 will occur near theapogee of the backward swing and the downward movement of crossbar 31along rear suspender elements 22 will progress as the latter swingforwardly, the greater part of the movement occurring when elements 22are inclined forwardly as will be clear from FIG. 3, so that seat 20reaches a fully inclined position on approaching the forward apogee. Themaximum inclination of seat 20 approaching the forward apogee willexceed somewhat that shown in FIG. 3, it being apparent that as seat 20continues to swing forwardly over pool P its rear end will rise whileits front end continues to lower, all adding impetus for ejecting therider who will slide down seat 20 into pool After ejection, swing-slide10 enters its third phase of operation wherein seat 20 without a riderand in a fully inclined position comes to rest before again swinging outover pool P. This phase eliminates any danger to the rider while in thewater of being struck by a free swinging seat 20. The reduction ofweight carried by seat 20 after ejection, the inclined position of seat20, and the arrangement of front and rear suspenders 21 and 22 and thelowered position of front suspension member length control device 30 allcontribute to dampening the swinging movement and bringing seat 20substantially to rest on the down swing subsequent to ejection.

To initiate the first phase of operation for the next rider, seat 20 isreturned to the horizontal position by raising crossbar 31 to the heightof lip 34a of hook 34 and then urging latching bar 33 forwardly toengage the parts.

Due to various components of force effecting automatic release, it hasbeen found that an increase in the weight of a rider requires anincrease in the height of the rearward apogee to achieve automaticrelease. Thus, any means of reorienting lip 340 other than the tensionadjustment of spring 36 by the nut 35a may also be effective as a meansfor adjusting the height requirement for automatic release for any givenload.

When utilizing the manual release feature, pulling downwardly on handle42a pivots latching bar 33 rearwardly at eyebolt 25 forcing hook 34 outof its engagement with bar 31. Should release be attempted prematurely,that is, for example, when seat 20 is passing the center of its swing inits rearward movement, it will be clear from FIG. 2 that releasedcrossbar 31 will not be able to drop'appreciably until rear suspenderelements 22 have passed their rearward apogee and the center of theirsubsequent forward stroke. No significant'dropping of the front end ofseat 20 will occur until rear suspender elements begin to slope in aforward direction.

The modified form of release mechanism is illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and7 and seen to be incorporated in front suspension member length controldevice which is generally similar to device 30 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3but with the following variation. Latching bar 133 terminates in an openhook 134 having its opening facing rearwardly for removable engagementof crossbar 31 therein in a manner similar to hook 34 but in an.oppositedirection. With hook 134 disposed in this manner, the mere limiting ofthe rearward swing of latch bar 133 will release crossbar 31 from hook134 as swing-slide 10 approaches a predetermined rearward apogee. Tothis end, any suitable limiting means may be utilized, as for example,an adjustable abutment (not shown) mounted to project from overheadsupport 12 into the path of rearward movement of latching bar 133, or asherein illustrated, a chain section 135 extending between front overheadsupport 11 and latching bar 133. Any suitable arrangement may be madefor adjusting the effective length of chain section 135, such as, a hook136 carried by latching bar 133 as seen in HO. 7 to selectively engageone of the links thereof. Rope or cable may serve in place of chain forsection 135 and any appropriate shortening means may be utilized todetermine the release position of swing-slide 10.

It is thus apparent that control device 130 affords foolproof operationand positive release of crossbar 31. The point of release and hence theextent or height of swing of seat 20 may be readily determined andpreadjusted by operating swing-slide 10 without a rider and shorteningor lengthening chain section 135 to achieve the desired swing. Linksalong chain section 135 may be designated by color or otherwise for alow, medium or high swing when such link is engaged in hook 136.

It will also be clear from FIG. 5 that a pull rope, not shown, butsimilar to pull rope 42 and handle 42a may be suspended from amidportion of chain section 135 for manual operation by the rider inseat oflatching bar 133 to release crossbar 31, the latter beingdisengaged from hook 134 when latching bar 133 is urged forwardly by adownward pull on such pull rope.

The swing-slide herein disclosed is seen to achieve the several objectsof the invention and to be well adapted to meet conditions of practicaluse. As various possible embodiments might be made of this invention,and as various changes might be made in the disclosed construction, itis to be understood that all matters herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A swing-slide comprising an elongated seat, overhead support meansfor the seat having rear and front portions horizontally spaced fromeach other, a fixed length suspension means swingably connecting a rearend of the seat to said rear portion of the support means, a variablelength suspension means swingably connecting a front end portion of theseat to said front portionof the support means, and shortening means forsaid variable length suspension means movable from a first position todispose the latter in a relatively effective shortened configurationwherein said seat is suspended in a substantially horizontal positionfor swinging back and forth, to a second position to dispose thevariable length suspension means in a lengthened configuration whereinthe seat is inclined to forwardly eject a rider therefrom.

2. The swing-slide defined in claim 1 in which said shortening meanstimes the release to take full effect for maximum inclination of theseat as the latter approaches a forward apogee.

3. The swing-slide defined in claim 1 in which said variable lengthsuspension means is flexed at a midportion thereof by said shorteningmeans to assume an angular configuration when said shortening means isin said first position and is released to assume a more obtuse angularconfiguration when said shortening means is in said second position.

4. The swing-slide defined in claim 1 in which said shortening meansincludes a trace member connected at one end to a midportion of saidvariable length suspension means and at the other end to a followerwhich rides along said fixed length suspension means, said followerbeing in a raised position when the shortening means is in said firstposition and in a lowered position with respect to said overhead supportmeans when the shortening means is in said second position.

5. The swing-slide defined in claim 4 in which said shortening meansincludes a latch member swingably suspended from said overhead supportmeans to engage said follower for retaining the latter in said raisedposition while the seat is free to swing in said horizontal position,said follower and latch member being constructed and arranged fordisengagement of the follower when the seat and fixed length suspensionmeans reaches a predetermined height during a backward swing.

6. The swing-slide defined in claim 5 in which said latch memberincludes an elongated bar terminating in an open hook, and said followerhas a portion sized and shaped to engage and disengage the hook throughits opening as said latch member and follower engagement, said hookbeing resiliently mounted on the bar, and means for adjusting theresiliency of said mounting to control the height of swing requirementsfor said follower release.

7. The swing-slide defined in claim 5 including means for limiting therearward swing of said latch member to effect said disengagement of saidfollower.

8. The swing-slide defined in claim 7 in which said limiting meansincludes chain means extending between said frontportion of the overheadsupport means and said latch member, said chain means being adjustablein length to vary said predetermined height of swing of the seat toeffect said follower disengagement.

9. The swing-slide defined in claim 4 in which said shortening meansincludes a latch member swingably suspended from said overhead supportmeans to engage said follower for retaining the latter in said raisedposition while the seat is free to swing in said horizontal position,and manual pull means extending forwardly from said latch member withingrasp of a rider in the seat, said manual pull means, latch member andfollower being constructed and arranged when the pull means is actuatedby the rider to disengage the follower for movement to said secondposition for voluntary ejection of the rider.

10. The swing-slide defined in claim 1 in which said fixed lengthsuspension means includes a pair of spaced rigid suspenders extendingalong opposite sides of the seat, said variable length suspension meansincluding a pair of suspenders flexible at a midportion thereof andextending along opposite sides of the seat, said shortening meansincluding a pair of traces, each connected at one end thereof to one ofsaid suspender midportions, a crossbar riding along a rear side of saidrigid suspenders and connected to the other ends of said traces, and alatch member swingably suspended from said overhead support meansreleasably engaging the crossbar in said first position whereby thetraces shorten the distance between said variable length suspendermidportions and the rigid suspenders to effect said shortenedconfiguration.

11. The swing-slide defined in claim 10 in which said seat front endportion connection of the variable length suspension means is locatedrearwardly of the front end of the seat to provide a downward overhangfor the latter when in said inclined position.

1. A swing-slide comprising an elongated seat, overhead support meansfor the seat having rear and front portions horizontally spaced fromeach other, a fixed length suspension means swingably connecting a rearend of the seat to said rear portion of the support means, a variablelength suspension means swingably connecting a front end portion of theseat to said front portion of the support means, and shortening meansfor said variable length suspension means movable from a first positionto dispose the latter in a relatively effective shortened configurationwherein said seat is suspended in a substantially horizontal positionfor swinging back and forth, to a second position to dispose thevariable length suspension means in a lengthened configuration whereinthe seat is inclined to forwardly eject a rider therefrom.
 2. Theswing-slide defined in claim 1 in which said shortening means times therelease to take full effect for maximum inclination of the seat as thelatter approaches a forward apogee.
 3. The swing-slide defined in claim1 in which said variable length suspension means is flexed at amidportion thereof by said shortening means to assume an angularconfiguration when said shortening means is in said first position andis released to assume a more obtuse angular configuration when saidshortening means is in said second position.
 4. The swing-slide definedin claim 1 in which said shortening means includes a trace memberconnected at one end to a midportion of said variable length suspensionmeans and at the other end to a follower which rides along said fixedlength suspension means, said follower being in a raised position whenthe shortening means is in said first position and in a lowered positionwith respect to said overhead support means when the shortening means isin said second position.
 5. The swing-slide defined in claim 4 in whichsaid shortening means includes a latch member swingably suspended fromsaid overhead support means to engage said follower for retaining thelatter in said raised position while the seat is free to swing in saidhorizontal position, said follower and latch member being constructedand arranged for disengagement of the follower when the seat and fixedlength suspension means reaches a predetermined height during a backwardswing.
 6. The swing-slide defined in claim 5 in which said latch memberincludes an elongated bar terminating in an open hook, and said followerhas a portion sized and shaped to engage and disengage the hook throughits opening as said latch member and follower engagement, said hookbeing resiliently mounted on the bar, and means for adjusting theresiliency of said mounting to control the height of swing requirementsfor said follower release.
 7. The swing-slide defined in claim 5including means for limiting the rearward swing of said latch member toeffect said disengagement of said follower.
 8. The swing-slide definedin claim 7 in which said limiting means includes chain means extendingbetween said front portion of the overhead support means and said latchmember, said chain means being adjustable in length to vary saidpredetermined height of swing of the seat to effect said followerdisengagement.
 9. The swing-slide defined in claim 4 in which saidshortening means includes a latch member swingably suspended from saidoverhead support means to engage said follower for retaining the latterin said raised position while the seat is free to swing in saidhorizontal position, and manual pull means extending forwardly from saidlatch member within grasp of a rider in the seat, said manual pullmeans, latch member and follower being constructed and arranged when thepull means is actuated by the rider to disengage the follower formovement to said second position for voluntary ejection of the rider.10. The swing-slide defined in claim 1 in which said fixed lengthsuspension means includes a pair of spaced rigid suspenders extendingalong opposite sides of the seat, said variable length suspension meansincluding a pair of suspenders flexible at a midportion thereof andextending along opposite sides of the seat, said shortening meansincluding a pair of traces, each connected at one end thereof to one ofsaid suspender midportions, a crossbar riding along a rear side of saidrigid suspenders and connected to the other ends of said traces, and alatch member swingably suspended from said overhead support meansreleasably engaging the crossbar in said first position whereby thetraces shorten the distance between said variable length suspendermidportions and the rigid suspenders to effect said shortenedconfiguration.
 11. The swing-slide defined in claim 10 in which saidseat front end portion connection of the variable length suspensionmeans is located rearwardly of the front end of the seat to provide adownward overhang for the latter when in said inclined position.